Seven Years
by ndtigs
Summary: Over the course of seven years, Rose and Scorpius go through different stages of love, hate, and whatever is in between.
**YEAR 1**

"Albus, hurry up!" I yelled from the door of the train. "We're about to leave!"

My cousin quickly ran towards me, shouting, "Don't leave without me!"

"Al," I scolded, once we were on the train. "We won't be able to find a good compartment now. Remember what James told us? That we didn't want to be seen as the first-year babies who couldn't even get a good compartment?"

"Sorry, Rose."

I ignored him, and said, "Maybe Roxanne will let us into hers... she's always nice enough to share with us. Al, remember her friend, Chloe? She has pink hair now, and got a nose piercing! I wonder if..."

"Wait!" Al yelled, interrupting my thoughts. "Here's one with only one person in it. We can go in there." Albus peered in. "Looks like a first year, too."

I began to protest - I hated strangers, especially strange boys who were my age who Al wanted to be my friend - but Al had already pulled to door open. "Coming, Rosie?"

I reluctantly walked into the booth. The boy seated in it was looking at me curiously. He had wonderfully blonde hair, and deep grey eyes. Like me, he was already in his school robes.

"Hello," I said cautiously.

He continued looking at me. He looked so familiar.

"Is it okay if we sit here?" Al asked, once again interrupting me.

"Absolutely," the boy said. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy."

"Aha!" I yelled awkwardly. "I know you! My father is always telling me to stay away from you!"

"Oh," he said standing up. "I can leave if you want me to."

"Oh! Please don't," I said. I hated myself. "It's okay, my dad's just like that. He hates everyone."

"Alright. Who are you two?"

"Albus Severus Potter and Rose Weasley," I told him proudly. "We're first years, what about you? Do you know what house you'd like to be in? _Everyone_ in our family is a Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw wouldn't be that bad, would it? I'd be caught dead in -"

"Wait," Al interrupted me ONCE AGAIN. "Is that a Chudley Cannons bag?" Al pointed to Malfoy's bag which was lying on the floor.

"Yes," he beamed.

"Albus Severus! Could you please not interrupt my thought anymore? It's very rude. All I want to do is express my opinions somehow! And I can't get a word into this conversation..."

Our ride continued on like this until we reached the castle.

* * *

After a relatively normal sorting, Malfoy was called. "Scorpius Malfoy!" Professor Copper boomed. She placed the sorting hat on his head, and we all waited. After a minute, I was tapping my foot, and watching the clock behind McGonagall's seat. After two, I started chatting with the girl next to me. After four, I had three new best friends, Clara Finnigan, Querida Jordan, and Rephi White. At four, Clara whispered, "I'm hungry" into my ear. After five, teachers started muttering amongst themselves. "Hatstall!" Querida muttered. Scorpius Malfoy was a hatstall. Finally, at six minutes, the hat shouted "SLYTHERIN!". The ceremony continued.

Soon, it was Al's turn. I crossed my fingers for him, because I knew how worried he had been about the Sorting. I didn't care what house he was put in (though I hoped I could be in the same house as him). He would remain my cousin and best friend no matter what. I quietly stood in line, and watched as the hat was put on his head. Less than a second after it touched his head the hat yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" I cheered as loudly as I could. The whole hall did. My excitement died down quickly. Soon it would be my turn to be sorted, and I was feeling the nerves.

"Rose Weasley!" Copper shouted. I walked slowly towards her and the hat. The whole school was watching me, and I was still walking. I could do it. I sat down on the stool, and she placed the hat on my head. "Well, well," a little voice said into my ear. "Another Weasley."

 _Yes._ I thought back.

"I see wisdom in you, but also the great desire to fight, and to have excitement."

 _That sounds like me._

"Absolutely. I think that you'll do well in GRYFFINDOR!" The last voice was shouted across the hall. I stepped off the stool, and heard cheering throughout the school body. I ran to join Clara, Querida, and Rephi, who were already at the Gryffindor table. The rest of the sorting continued with little excitement, and before I knew it, we were on our way to the dorms. While I was being lead out by our prefect, my cousin Louis, I rushed over to Malfoy and Al.

"Al!" I yelled.

"Rosie," he quietly said back to me.

"Well?!" I asked. "It's too bad that we're in different houses, but hopefully we'll still have a lot of classes together, right?"

"Yeah," he said looking a little brighter. "You know, I'm actually really happy - "

He was cut off by Malfoy. "Come on, Albus. We have to go."

I was a little disappointed. "Oh. I should probably find my group, too. 'Night Al. See you, Malfoy."

I ran to find my classmates.

* * *

That night, after the lights had gone out, I sat in bed and thought. I was happy for Al. He was in Slytherin, but he seemed okay. And he had Malfoy with him. I admitted to myself that I didn't really like Scorpius, but that was okay. As long as Al was okay. I went to sleep that night with a smile on my face.

* * *

 **Year 2**

The rest of my first year went relatively uneventfully. Sure, there were some memorable things that happened, like the giant end of the year prank that Fred Jr. had decided that the entire family should pull off, that ended with multiple detentions for the entire family, and the drama with Querida and Zachary Zabini's relationship, but almost nothing else happened.

That September, I almost missed the train because I was waiting for someone, once again, but this year I was waiting for Rephi (whose Muggle parents had refused to let her run through a wall), not Al. This year, I had made sure to get a compartment before the train filled up, and this year, I did not meet any strange boys with shiny hair. Although Malfoy and I weren't real friends, our love for Al kept us close.

Things changed for the weirder on Halloween. Al had been feeling mopey all October, but on the last day they were worse. To my surprise, Malfoy confronted my after breakfast.

"Hey, Weasley," He said, chasing after me. I stopped walking, waiting for him to catch up.

"Yes?"

"You know how Al's been all upset lately?" Of course I knew. I had been at the receiving end of this moodiness. "Well, I've been thinking. Since you and me are... you know, his, uh, best friends, maybe we should try and cheer him up, somehow." This was a great idea. I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it before.

"Alright, Malfoy. I have a plan. Have you been to the empty charms classroom on the fourth floor? Yes? Well, I'll decorate it this afternoon, and you can run to the kitchens and get treats. That will make him happy. But don't tell him; we should surprise him."

The day continued with civilized talk between Malfoy and me. It was almost like we were more than common acquaintances. As soon as dusk began to fall, I asked Rephi to tell Al that there was "something important" for him in the classroom. If it was anyone else, he probably wouldn't have done anything, but I knew that Al had a little crush on her. He would listen. At 7:30, Malfoy and I were prepared for Al to come through the door any minute. Three minutes later, I heard footsteps outside.

"Malfoy!" I whispered. "He's here!"

We flung the door open. "Surprise!" we yelled. We were staring right into the face of Professor McGonagall.

* * *

"Detention for both of you," she said crisply. "Meet Filch tomorrow night at eight in the trophy room."

As soon as she left, the fighting began. "This is all your fault, Malfoy!" I said, throwing a pie on to the ground.

"Weasley, this was your idea! Any plan of mine would have been thought through enough that the headmaster wouldn't walk in on us!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, what would your plan have been?"

He stood there, flustered. "I'll tell you later, Weasley. Goodnight." As he rushed down the hallway, I gathered my wits, and threw a punch cup after him, and although it missed, it gave me great satisfaction that I'd done so. I cleaned up the room with some simple magic (I wasn't top of all my classes for no reason), and went to bed.

* * *

The next night, I began to get ready for my detention. I hadn't seen Malfoy since the cup throwing incident, but I hadn't expected more. Clara, Querida, and Rephi had thought that it was wildly funny that Malfoy and I had detention together, although I didn't think that there was anything to laugh at. For some reason, Querida had asked if she could get me ready for detention, so here I was, wearing more makeup than I had ever worn before putting on a green jumper. And as soon as a started to walk through the door, Querida insisted on running a brush through my curly red hair (I _had_ brushed it that morning!), and spraying some very expensive smelling perfume on me. I laughed, pushed her off, and made my way to detention.

When I got there, Malfoy was sitting at a desk next to Filch, who was tapping his foot. Our task was to clean the trophies without magic, which apparently hadn't been done since my father's days at Hogwarts. Filch left, and soon it was just Malfoy and me.

"How's Al doing?" I said, awkwardly.

"Oh, fine," he answered. It sounded as if his mind was somewhere else.

"Yeah? Did you tell him about..."

"Yep."

"Oh. Good."

We continued scrubbing.

"Sorry about the punch cup." I said. I didn't sound sorry enough, but he knew me well enough to know that this was as close at it got.

"That's okay. You know, once I threw a vase in my Grandfather's face."

"You threw a vase at Lucius Malfoy?!"

"Yep."

We both smiled.

"Would you like to know my biggest secret ever?" I asked. If someone two days before had told that I'd be getting chummy with Malfoy and telling him things that I hadn't mentioned to Clara, Querida, and Rephi, I would have laughed in their face, but here I was.

"Of course!"

"I absolutely hate being a Weasley-Potter."

"Do you know what? I hate being a Malfoy."

We smiled at each other. Were we becoming friends?

"Wait, Malfoy. I've told you my secret. Tell me yours!"

He looked down, with a smile. "Nope. Can't."

"Oh, Malfoy. I'm not THAT much of a gossip."

"I know, but I just don't want people to know this right now."

"Please?"

"You really want to know?"

"Yes!"

" _Really_?"

"Please, Mal- Scorpius."

He looked shocked for a moment at my use of his first name. "Okay. I have a huge crush on Rose Weasley."

For the first time in my life I was speechless. But just as I opened my mouth to speak, Filch came in.

"Alright, alright. Time for bed. Get to your dormitories."

Malfoy sped out of the room before I could say anything.

* * *

I slowly went up to my room. When I got there, all of my dorm mates were waiting for me.

"Well?" Querida asked.

"'Well' what?" I said, annoyed. I still couldn't figure Malfoy out. He had a crush on me. _He_ had a crush on me?

"Well, how was Malfoy?" Clara asked.

"He was Malfoy."

"Really?" Rephi asked.

"Well, other than the fact that HE TOLD ME HE HAD A CRUSH ON ME." I shouted loudly, and stormed off to the baths.

After I took possibly the longest shower ever, I came out. The girls were still awake.

"You know that I called all of this, like, a year ago?" Querida was telling Clara and Rephi. They noticed me and stopped talking.

"What should I do?" I moaned.

Querida, always the matchmaker asked me, "Well, do you like him back?"

"I don't know... I'm so confused," I said.

"If you did like him, you should ask him out. If didn't, don't do anything, and if he asks you out, tell him."

"Okay. I don't like him."

All of the girls sighed. "Oh, you would have been such a cute couple!" Clara declared.

"Really?" I asked.

"Mmhhm, you with your amazing ginger hair, and him with that gorgeous blonde, and those eyes!" they all sighed.

"Well, I don't like him. That's that. Now goodnight. Stop being silly."

I didn't fall asleep quickly that night.

* * *

 **Year 3**

I was able to spend the rest of my second year at Hogwarts with little interaction with Malfoy. Although we still had classes together, we were able to find away to not talk to each other again. We most have been very good at this, because we were able to find a way to not talk to each other until the last day of our third year...

"Oh, I'll miss you so much..." Rephi whispered to me, while enveloping me in a hug. She'd grown another foot in the last year, and now towered over my 5'3" frame at nearly six feet.

"Rephi, we still have time on the train for goodbyes!" Clara said, although she too looked upset. Her formally dark brown hair had been dyed a sleek lavender which was often straightened, and she'd gotten into the habit of wearing purple lipstick. It took some time to get used to, but behind the purple, she was still the same Clara. I laughed at Clara in a loving way, as Querida approached us with her new boyfriend, Albert Longbottom. She kissed him, and skipped over to us, her black curls bouncing perfectly.

"Do you think I need a makeover?" she asked us.

"Of course not! You don't know how much money some girls would pay to look like you..." Clara assured her.

"I know, I know," she said, brushing off the compliment. "But you girls have changed so much in the last year, and I'm still the same old Querida." She was right. Along with Clara and Rephi's changes, my hair had finally changed from "bushy" to having wonderful ringlets, and it seemed that my green eyes had grown in a way that looked wonderful.

We continued the small talk as we walked on to the train.

The train soon began bumping in the familiar way. I watched from the window as Hogwarts slowly disappeared into the distance, and sighed. My vision was interrupted by the thump of the compartment door. It was Albert, Al, Declan Chang-Smith, and Scorpius Malfoy.

"Mind if we sit here, ladies?" Al asked. "The train's filled up."

"But of course!" Querida said, invitingly before I could protest.

Soon, Albert and Querida were snogging each other in a corner while Declan was flirting with Clara, and Al was trying to make a move with Rephi. Scorpius and I were left awkwardly sitting next to each other by the window. An hour into this torture, I decided to leave for the loo. As I was coming out, I nearly bumped into who else but Scorpius Malfoy.

"Sorry, Malfoy. But you do know that there's a free toilet around the corner." I said, and began to walk out of his way.

"Rose, I'm really sorry to waste your time, but I just want to apologize for these last two years. I wasted your time. Hell, I don't even like you anymore!" He added with a nervous smile. "I know you've been avoiding me. Next year, I don't want you to spend so much time worrying about me. So don't"

I looked at him, very confused. For some reason I couldn't talk.

"Weasley?" he asked, peering at me.

"Yes?" I shook my head carefully. For some bizarre reason, his confession confused me.

"That's it. See you around."

* * *

 **Year 4**

My summer went along uneventfully, and before I knew it, I was back at Hogwarts.

"Oh, Rosie," Querida said to me when she first saw me, "You look gorgeous." Apparently the boys thought so too. Right before the first Hogsmeade day, I was asked out by none other than Coen McLaggen. Coen was in the year above mine, and according to most girls in my classes, "simply beautiful". I didn't have any plans for Hogsmeade; all of my friends had dates, so I decided to say "yes" to Coen.

The date approached quickly. I'd never been on one before, and unfortunately Querida knew. She spent the entire morning quizzing me on what to use as small-talk, what to eat, what not to eat, what to wear, how much makeup I should wear, no lipstick vs. lipstick, and even more things that I can't remember. In fact, she spent more time preparing me than she's ever used getting herself ready, and all of us know how long that can take. By the time it was time to go, I was already exhausted. I met Coen by the entrance of the Great Hall, and we set off towards Hogsmeade.

"So, how's quidditch going?" I asked. This was one of Querida's dating tips, to ask the guy questions. McLaggen played keeper for the Ravenclaw team.

"Wonderful. The other night at practice I was able to catch twenty-two quaffles! Only missed one. Hopefully it goes just as well at the next game. It's against Slytherin - you'll cheer for me, won't you? Of course, there'll probably be a lot of girls doing that anyway - you know how my fans are..." he said this with a flick of his hair. I concealed a laugh in a cough. "Are you alright?" he didn't wait for an answer before starting talking again. "Malfoy's an awful keeper though, I don't know why on earth they put him in charge of the goals..." For some bizarre reason, McLaggen's criticism of Malfoy upset me. Fortunately he changed the subject. "Oh, here we are. Madam Puddifoot's alright?

Before I could answer, he pushed me through the door, and into a small booth in the back. "You know, my last girlfriend - Juliet Windsor - you know her right? That blonde year six? She used to love this place. Her favorite color's pink. Mine's probably blue, or copper - house color's you know. House pride is very important. At least, I think so. Do you know what else I think? Girls shouldn't ..."

McLaggen could probably keep on going for a life time. I began daydreaming as he ordered for me: "Yes, could I have the strawberry milkshake? Extra whipped cream, and two straws, please..." My thoughts were interrupted by the slamming of the door.

"Bethany, you know that I hate this place! I'm allergic to the perfume!" It was Scorpius Malfoy. And that stupid blonde bimbo, Bethany Brown. A year six who probably couldn't tell her own boobs from two balloons.

"Oh, come on Scorpy! I love the pies here!" probably the most stupid thing to come out of a human mouth.

"Wait, is that Bethany Brown?" McLaggen asked me. Of course he didn't wait for an answer. "Bethany! Come join us! Oh, and you, too, Scorpius."

So here I was. Stuck with McLaggen, Bethany Brown, and Malfoy.

"Rose?" Malfoy asked. He had just noticed me. "I didn't know that you knew... uh... Coen." He climbed into the booth next to me, and Bethany sat next to Coen.

"Bethany!" McLaggen exclaimed. "How are you! I haven't seen you all year. You look um, great!"

McLaggen clearly enjoyed Brown's company over mine. "How was your summer? Did you see that cousin again? The one with diabetes?" Both Scorpius and I sat silently while McLaggen and Brown caught up with each other.

"Um, Coen! Bethany! I think Rose and I are expected by friends at the Three Broomsticks ... so I guess, goodbye for now?" Malfoy said as he pulled out of the booth, and helped me out.

McLaggen and Brown barely noticed as we quickly left the place.

"God, I am so glad to be out of there. I really am allergic to whatever scent they use in there." Malfoy told me as we walked out.

As we both laughed over are misfortune with dating, I noticed that Malfoy had changed over the summer. He was nearly a foot taller than me, and looked more - dare I say it? - _muscular_ than he had before. I shook off these feelings, and asked, "So, are there really people waiting for us in the Three Broomsticks?"

"Nope! But I'm meeting Albus and Rephi there in an hour. We can wait there for them."

He held the door for me, and we walked into the cozy cafe. I found a snug booth in the back, and we continued talking there.

"So, Rose Weasley. What were you doing on a date with Coen McLaggen?"

"I could ask the same to you about Miss Bethany Brown."

"I should be asking myself the same question. What was I thinking?"

"What was _I_ thinking? McLaggen is the biggest idiot in the school..."

"... other than Brown."

We laughed and laughed, until Al and Rephi walked in on us.

"Well, well, well," Al said as soon as he saw us. "What's this? Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy engaging in civilized conversation? Acting friendly with each other?"

"We're bonding over our awful dates," Malfoy said bluntly.

"Tell me how it went, Rosie," Rephi said. I told her the horror that was my date with McLaggen, and then Scorpius told us about his with Brown. On our way back to the castle, we bumped into Clara and Declan, and Querida and her new boyfriend Fredrick Creevy. We all walked up to the castle together, and ate our dinners with each other.

Somehow, over the course of that year, I became friends with Scorpius Malfoy. We were inseparable. In fact, I found my self often wondering why we hadn't been friends before. I was the top of our grade, he was the second. All of our friends were mutual. Honestly, it was useful.

* * *

 **Year 5**

The summer between my fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts was the best of my life. My family finally decided that it was acceptable for me to throw a party for my very responsible friends, and I did just that. It was such a success, that Scorpius, Al, Querida, Clara, Rephi, Declan, Albert (he and Querida were back together), and Zachary Zabini (after Querida dumped Albert for the second time, he and she re-kindled their romance) decided to throw similar ones. On September 1, I was looking forwards to another amazing year.

The year was amazing. I'd become a prefect, and was having the time of my life. Though I couldn't hold a boyfriend for more than two months (between them being douche bags and my cousins beating them up), and having O.W.L.s (honestly though, they weren't that bad) wasn't the best, I had a fun time. This was the first year when I didn't have to worry about Scorpius at all. Actually, I take that back. I did worry about Scorpius. He was constantly dating the wrong kind of girls. The Bethany Brown types. First he was with Bethany's younger sister, Lana Brown, and then he decided to go with Juliet Windsor, finally settling for Sarah Edwards, although he broke up with her after a month.

Still, fifth year was my best year at Hogwarts in a long time. Maybe even ever. When I left school, I didn't know what the next year would hold for me.

* * *

 **Year 6**

On August 31, the day before school started, when I should have been packing, I made a list. It was of all of the things that I wanted to do that year.

 _1\. Have a boyfriend for MORE than two months_

 _2\. Get O's on all of your O.W.L.s (you can do it again)_

 _3\. Host at least one party in the Room of Requirement_

 _4\. Do something impulsive, as long as it isn't jumping off a cliff or something stupid like that_

 _5\. Sneak out of the school at night_

At the time, it seemed like a fun, but admittedly silly thing to do. I didn't know how much adventure it would give me that year.

I boarded the Hogwart's Express gleefully. This was my second to last year at Hogwarts, and James and Dominique's last. That would be fun; James would want to leave with a bang. And at the end of last year, I'd found out about the Room of Requirement, which meant more secret parties.

My year at Hogwarts started off well. I'd been excepted into all of the classes necessary to become a Healer, the occupation that I'd decided on. Unfortunately, the only one of my friends in all of my classes was Scorpius leaving us to work together most of the time. At the beginning of the I had been reluctant to work with him, but we got closer and closer.

By March, school work had kept me so busy that I'd only checked off on item on my list. I'd held a party in the Room of Requirement. It hadn't been a big party at all, just my friends and some cousins. Because of this, I was excited when James told me that as part of the end of the year celebrations, he'd be taking family and friends out to lake to camp. Sneaking out of the school! I could invite three of my friends, and naturally decided on Clara, Querida, and Rephi. At 9:30 on a Friday night, we gathered out things and marched down towards the lake. James would be providing tents.

We arrived at lake to find Albus and Scorpius sitting with Declan and Albert. Al was still dating Rephi, Declan and Clara had been together for a while, and by the way that they were looking at each other, I assumed that Querida and Albert would be back together by the end of the night. That left Scorpius and me together, once again. I sat myself down on a log next to him, and asked, "So where's the tent?"

"Apparently James thought that since we're all friends, it would be a good idea for of the share one."

"All of us?"

"Yep. There's four rooms, four bunks."

"Okay... so I guess I'll be sharing with Rephi."

"I wouldn't assume that, Rose. Look at Rephi and Al." I looked at my two best friends. They were snogging, and every time they stopped for air, they looked lustfully in each other's eyes. It was clear that they'd be going to bed together that night.

"Okay," I said, shrugging. "I'll share my room with Clara."

"You think so? But look at her and Declan. They've been together for almost three years now, you know. They've never slept together."

"How do you know that?"

"Miss Weasley, I'm observant." He finished this with a smug smirk, which I wanted to punch off his face. I took a deep breath.

"So I'll bunk with Querida."

"Oh, Rose. You know her." I did know her. She would clearly be with Albert that night.

"Oh, God. That means that we'll be together tonight."

"Mmmhmm. You said it, not me, Weasley."

"They're going to expect us to be madly in love in the morning."

"That's right."

The rest of the night, the rest of the gang was dancing and talking. I did this to, but with very little enthusiasm. My mind was elsewhere. What would the night with Malfoy be like? Finally my worst fears were realized at 2:30.

"God, I'm exhausted," Querida yawned, as she stumbled into the tent, hold Albert's arm for support. Before anyone could respond, they were in one of the bedrooms, and the door was shut.

"Great party, kids. 'Night," Declan said, pulling Clara into a room. "See you in the morning," he finished with a wink, before slamming the door.

"Well, I guess that just leaves us to bid you adieu," Albus said. He was always weird like that when he was tipsy.

"Bye, Rosie and Scorpy," Rephi slurred as she followed him into the third bedroom.

"Rosie and Scorpy," I heard Al say as the closed the door. "That rhymes."

"Told you so, Weasley," Scorpius said smugly as I ran towards the last room.

"Shut up, Malfoy. I'm going to the toilet."

I took as much time as a could getting myself ready for bed. When I finally got back to the room, Malfoy was lying on the bottom bunk, reading _Hogwarts A History_. Our favorite book. I ignored this fact, and climbed to the top bunk.

"Good night, Malfoy."

"Weasley, you really think that you're going to go to sleep without some conversation?"

I had hoped so.

"I'm trying to sleep, Malfoy," I muttered.

"Rosie, I have something important to tell you."

"What."

"Remember second year?"

Unfortunately yes.

"Rose?"

"Yes, yes I do."

"Remember my, er, declaration of love?"

I sighed, deeply. "Yes, Scorpius."

"Could I re-new it?"

I rolled over on the bunk, and looked down at him. As usual, he looked gorgeous. His blonde hair was shining, and reflecting the moonlight coming through the window.

"Rosie, please say something."

Please let him not be joking. I was jumping off the cliff of chance. "Yes."

"Yes!" I could feel Scorpius's joy.

I scrambled down the bunk, and kissed, catching him surprised. It was certainly not the most romantic kiss, but I could feel fireworks going off in my head. The kiss ended, and I kissed him again.

"I love you, Rosie," Scorpius whispered to me, as we fell asleep.

By the end of the year, I had completed me list.

* * *

 **Year 7**

My last year at Hogwarts. I was head girl, and Scorpius was head boy. We were overjoyed. I graduated top of my class, and immediately started with Scorpius at a Healer training program. We found a small flat near St. Mungo's, and adopted a puppy. Life was good.


End file.
